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Advice on restarting a raised bed

Ferdinand2000Ferdinand2000 Posts: 537
edited October 2020 in The potting shed
I have asked about this one before, but am now thinking in a bit more detail.

It looks untidy around; that is being sorted slowly :o . Honest.
 
I want this to be a veg bed next spring. That loggy bit is to be a compost bin, and currently has a leaf mould bag in it so I can get underneath if I need to get at the soil. Total measurement is about 12ft x 4ft incl. the compost bin. Depth is a foot to the brim.

The far part is bamboo, and the near is mint.

I am thinking that my best way is to dig out all the soil in the bambooey part, and perhaps all of it, then refill it it up with leaves now to let them go down a little until spring, and add compost/soil on top in the spring to fill it up.

I think I can keep most of the soil where there is mint, as it is divided even though the bamboo has staged a small escape through the divider.

The sides will be loggy like the compost bin. The bamboo was weedkilled a month or two ago, and this had some effect. But it looks to be established after a few years to the ‘about to take off ‘ stage.

Any suggestions or comments are most welcome.

Ferdinand






“Rivers know this ... we will get there in the end.”
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  • I'm a bit unsure what you're asking  :) . Personally if I had mint and bamboo in a raised bed (and bearing in mind I grow veg rather than ornamental so I'm not sure what end you're aiming for), I'd treat them like weeds - dig them out and try to put a barrier against the bamboo, before I started growing anything else. Then I'd leave it until spring before refilling the bed, just before I start to plant into it.

    What's underneath the bed and how deep is it? And what do you plan to grow in it next year. I must have missed your previous post on it...

  • NollieNollie Posts: 7,529
    Mint and bamboo are both invasive and neither are conducive to vegetable growing, so I agree with Strelitza, treat them like weeds, dig out all the roots, tracing back and removing any bamboo runners and getting every last bit of mint root out you can. The mint will pop up again, including the other side of the barrier. It always does make a reappearance but hopefully you can get it under control and hand weed any interlopers in future. If you want to have mint, better to grow it in a pot.

    Veg are hungry annuals and leaf mould doesn’t have much nutrition so better to leave that bag to one side and improve the soil you have by digging in plenty of compost and well rotted manure. Digging and mixing in is better than layering as layers of different materials can impede and check root growth. You can do that now and let it settle over winter or leave it till spring. I’m really not convinced about putting a solid layer of leaves at the bottom is a good idea. I suspect it may form an impenetrable barrier and once the veg roots hit it they will have nowhere to go.

    It does depend on what you want to grow, if you can separate the bed into three sections for annual rotation purposes, then you can add manure to the parts where you are growing things that like it, like potatoes, but not to the area where you are growing, for example carrots, that don’t.

    Does that help? I can’t remember what was said in the previous post.
    Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'd rip the whole lot out and start again - including the raised beds themselves. The timber looks knackered to me. 
    Bamboo and mint - two of the worst things you could have in terms of invasiveness.

    Don't take short cuts with it in any way, if you want beds to grow anything successfully. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487

    I have to ask, what's underneath your raised bed, and what's between it and what looks like the stone? wall?  As the others have said, you couldn't have begun with a worse set of current residents as nuisances and all you need to complete the picture is a few nettles, dandelions and docks.

    I admit to not liking raised beds but, if you have no actual need for the one you've got, I'd rip out everything in it along with the timber, weeding it thoroughly as you go, and then create a larger conventional bed right up to the wall dug into the natural soil.  A bed the size you've got at present is limited in the scope of veg it will accommodate and crop rotation will consequently be difficult, but not impossible, to apply.  I wish you well.

  • Ferdinand2000Ferdinand2000 Posts: 537
    edited October 2020

    Thanks for the replies @Nollie @strelitzia32 @nick615 @Fairygirl - very good questions. And apols for not asking explicit questions -  I usually aim to do that.

    To answer the several qs:

    - It is a raised bed because underneath there is the site of the former garage and drive, which was demolished when the place was extended sideways to both boundaries. So it is either concrete rubble from a driveway / or concrete (poss. reinforced) slab. I am not planning to tangle with that. So a raised bed is probably the best option.

    - The veg bed is *there* because of the ground, and as that is the least private area in the back garden due to overlooking. It would not be sit-outable, for example.

    - It moved to bamboo as a block and mint as my parent became less mobile, and the growing gardening was not my thing. Apparently it is now, at least to some extent :-). 

    - I use mint for discouraging flies in 2 or 3 rooms throughout the summer, so use a fair amount. But I agree a large pot or two may be the way.

    - I put the raised beds in for my parent back in 2013, who died last year. You are correct that the timber is ready for overhaul - it was 150mm x 25mm roughsawn that I happened to have in and treated. The existing timber could be clad successfully, but I think I will replace that as suggested. The veg bed is currently 300mm deep, but not full. So the soil depth is probably 9".

    - I like the suggestion of putting leaves in and mixing, as I will soon run out of space for leafmould-creation storage, and I am being greedy because of these plans for the nest year or two. I reckon I'll be up to 4 dumpy bags of shredded leaves before long, and I'm getting about 70-100l a day easily just from my own plot and a 10 minute wander down the lane with the garden vacuum.
     
    - The intention for the beds are general fruit / veggies. I have 3 separate beds of about that size. I also have space for a 6 x 8 greenhouse should the veg bug bite for the long term.

    - I believe the beds are lined with weed fabric or possible perforated polythene, as that is my normal approach. I tend to go belt and braces where basics are concerned.

    - The wall is unfortunately not mine, the boundary being the face of the wall on my side. I may end up doing repairs though. And it needs a path sufficient for maintenance on my side.

    - I estimate that I should be able to generate a few hundred litres of my own compost by next year, which will help. May need to use my stock of 25kg building material bags to take the bambooey stuff away to the Council.

    - I think what I was thinking of was not that far from what is suggested. So I'll clear out completely and restart with slightly differently designed beds. I think making them 450mm or even 600mm deep may be beneficial though if I leave my corner posts in as I have elsewhere then I can just add another log to the top of the surround. Leaving the posts will also let me cover it should I need, or install support wires etc as needed.

    Thanks all. I think I know what I need to do now.

    Ferdinand

    “Rivers know this ... we will get there in the end.”
  • nick615nick615 Posts: 1,487
    Excellent!  Don't forget the option of concrete 'boards' for longevity and durability as in the attached pic. along the left.  They've been there for 13 years and counting.  Just drive strong angle iron into the ground to support them.
  • Ferdinand2000Ferdinand2000 Posts: 537
    edited October 2020
    I am now wondering whether I should do the other of the pair of raised beds too, which has only had strawberries and a couple of gooseberry bushes in it. There are two aspeçts to this

     1 - Renovate the sides of the bed by either cladding or replacing the existing. Easy to do.

     2 - Improve the soil and make it deeper.

     3 - The two gooseberries are small, but I was going to give them a year to see what happened.

     I think I have just two questions here.

     1 - Can I just dig out the obvious strawberries and compost, then add extra soil / compost / whatever in early spring, mix it all up and plant therein? I think that is the way.

    2 - Have I missed anything?

     Cheers for any further wisdom. Ferdinand


    “Rivers know this ... we will get there in the end.”
  • SydRoySydRoy Posts: 167
    Fairygirl said:
    I'd rip the whole lot out and start again - including the raised beds themselves. The timber looks knackered to me. 
    Bamboo and mint - two of the worst things you could have in terms of invasiveness.

    Don't take short cuts with it in any way, if you want beds to grow anything successfully. 
    I was going to post the same thing.. 

    I agree with @Fairygirl. You'll be kicking yourself forever more if you don't.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I'll just say 'ditto' to the recent post. 
    Start afresh. Simple. Pot up any plants you want to keep, and gut the whole lot. 

    You're over complicating everything, and you'll just end up going in circles, constantly sorting little bits here and there. It'll never be satisfactory. 
    That's my opinion anyway. I couldn't be bothered footering with bits and pieces   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Fairygirl said:
    I'll just say 'ditto' to the recent post. 
    Start afresh. Simple. Pot up any plants you want to keep, and gut the whole lot. 

    You're over complicating everything, and you'll just end up going in circles, constantly sorting little bits here and there. It'll never be satisfactory. 
    That's my opinion anyway. I couldn't be bothered footering with bits and pieces   :)
    That's quite possible - I'm unaccountably nervous around doing things to plants. Inexperience perhaps.

    So it will be the strawberry one first - report gooseberries then compost strawberries, improve structure and mix in lots of leaves for overwinter, then some compost in early spring.

    See you on this thread in a few days :-) .
    “Rivers know this ... we will get there in the end.”
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